Gas turbine engines include frames for supporting bearings which support rotor shafts therein. A turbine frame, for example, is disposed downstream of a conventional turbine and is subject to hot combustion gases discharged therefrom. The turbine frame also supports a shaft connected to a fan and is therefore subject to substantial blade-out loads upon failure of a blade on the fan connected thereto which results in unbalance forces transmitted through the shaft.
In order to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction of the turbine frame due to the hot combustion gases flowable therethrough, and to accommodate the fan blade-out loads transmitted through the shaft supported in the turbine frame, the turbine frame is conventionally a relatively complex and heavy structure.